Researchers of the area of Material, Products, Process from the CIDAUT Foundation, attended the XIV National Congress of Composite Materials – MATCOMP2021, celebrated in Seville from June 21st to 23rd. This congress, promoted by the Spanish Association of Composite Materials (AEMAC), is the most important event for the scientific, academic and business community around composite and high-performance materials in Spain. In this occasion, the congress was organized by the Elasticity and Strength of Materials Group of the University of Seville to commemorate 25 years of MATCOMPs congresses, which began in Seville in 1995.
In this edition of MATCOMP, the role of industry in the development of composite materials has been highlighted. Thus, in addition to multiple oral presentations and posters, two of the three plenary conferences were oriented to industrial problems and the Congress closed with an industrial round table in which industrial representatives from the most relevant sectors in the field of composite materials discussed the future of the sector and the technical challenges in which the university and the technology centers can be an indispensable agent as a generator of knowledge and an asset for technology transfer. This emphasis was complemented by a significant participation of companies through stands, and with a visit to the Final Assembly Line of the A400M on the closing day of the Congress.
During this Congress, the researchers of CIDAUT Foundation presented their investigations in relation to composite materials. In the thematic area of ”Sustainability and Recycling”, two contributions developed in the OSIRIS Project (CER-20211009) were presented: a lecture entitled “RECYCLING OF REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE LAMINATE WASTE INTO HIGH PERFORMANCE MATERIALS” presented by Dr. María Asensio-Valentin and a poster entitled “REVALUATION OF PLASTIC WASTES COMPOSED BY PEI REINFORCED WITH GLASS FIBERS FROM THE AERONAUTICAL SECTOR” presented by Dr. Mercedes Santiago-Calvo. Moreover, the researcher Mattia Mazzeschi presented a poster entitled “ELECTROMAGNETIC-BASED STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING APPROACH FOR THERMOPLASTIC WELDED JOINTS: EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL ANALYSIS”, which was awarded the prize for the Best poster of the congress.
Besides this, CIDAUT Foundation was present at the stand of the OSIRIS Network (CER-20211009), together with GAIKER Foundation (coordinator of the Osiris Project), Research Association of Plastic Materials and Related (AIMPLAS) and Research Association of the Textile Industry (AITEX). The OSIRIS Network establishes an alliance between these four Technology Centers of Excellence “Cervera” and a national and international benchmark to strengthen the capabilities of R & D in recycling and recovery technologies to improve the circular economy of composites and complex plastic materials with high added value. Attendees were able to visit our stand and learn about the Network’s lines of work and its latest advances in R&D.